Breaking Point
by John Lee Hawk
Summary: When the gang tries a new strategy against XANA, it goes horribly awry. They manage to fix the the damage, it brings Jeremy to his breaking point. Feeling that he put lives at risk and that he is not good enough, Jeremy decides to leave the group. In as last-ditch effort, though, Aelita tries to change his mind.


Jeremy walked into his room and slammed the door. He wished he could deal with all of his problems like that, just lock them away. Instead, the door just provided him with temporary sanctuary until somebody knocked on it.

Sometime later, Aelita did just that.

"Jeremy, are you in there?" she asked in that soft voice that always captivated Jeremy. Had it been anyone else, Jeremy would have just ignored them and continued to sulk on his bed. But Aelita was different, and the sound of her voice hypnotized Jeremy enough to get him of off his feet and to the door.

Jeremy turned the knob and cracked the door open. There seemed to be some kind of light that radiated off of Aelita, an aura or something. She always stood out to Jeremy, even when surrounded by other people.

But with all of her light and radiance, Jeremy's morose face remained, hardly moved by her presence.

"Can I come in?" Aelita asked. The kindest eyes Jeremy had ever seen were looking at him, but his sullen demeanor remained.

"Yeah," he finally replied. Aelita walked into his room, looking at him with a look of concern and empathy before sitting down on his office chair.

"You seemed like you were in a hurry to leave," she said. "You left The Factory once we were all safe and devitalized."  
"Yeah," Jeremy said back, sitting down on his bed.

"You didn't stick around to say anything. It wasn't like you."

Jeremy sighed, then pulled his laptop out of his bag before handing it to Aelita.

"I meant to give you this," he told her.

"But, don't you need it?" Aelita asked.

"Not, anymore, Aelita. I'm no good for you people."

"Wha… how can you say that?"  
Jeremy sat back, resting his head on the wall, squeezed his eyes tightly for a second.

"Aelita, I almost got you and the others killed today," he said. "I thought we were getting so close, I thought we were finally making progress, and I was so wrong. All I've done is fail, Aelita. I'm done."

"Jeremy, that's not true," Aelita replied.

"We're always on the defensive," Jeremy continued, this time with more inflection. "Always, and I hate it. I hate feeling powerless, feeling vulnerable. And every time we try to take the fight to XANA, it always backfires so badly. Always!"

"Jeremy –"

"Every time I try something, it blows up in our faces," Jeremy interrupted. "Every time I try to get off my ass and do something, every time I try to stop reacting and start being active, I always end up putting everyone in danger. I can't do this, anymore. Every time I try something, Aelita, I fail."

Aelita got out of her chair and sat down next to him.

"That's not true," she said with a dominate tone. Their faces were mere inches apart.

"It is," Jeremy replied.

"No. You've might've failed sometimes, but you've succeeded a lot of times."

"When?"

"Every time we deactivated a tower," Aelita reminded.

"That was all you."

"You helped. You virtualized us, guided us; we couldn't have done it without your support."

"Yes, you could've."

"If you fail every time you try something, why am I sitting here, Jeremy?" Aelita asked. "Why am I in the real world? Why do we have a Skid, or a Super-Scan?"

"It took me over a year to get you out of Lyoko."

"And you did it, Jeremy. You succeeded. You saved me."

Jeremy leaned forward and put his right hand on his forehead.

"I'm incompetent, Aelita," he said. "I can't provide what you and the others need. I'm just not good enough."

"Jeremy!" Aelita said, then stared at him with exasperation. "Damn it, that's true. You've spent countless hours learning things about the supercomputer that no one else knows. You've put in time and effort that no one else has, and you've mastered the supercomputer."  
"You're just as good with it."

"But I'm needed on Lyoko!"

Aelita put her right hand on Jeremy's left shoulder, leading Jeremy to look back up at her close face.

"I need you to operate the supercomputer," she said. "When XANA attacks and I need to deactivate a tower, you're the only person I trust to successfully virtualize me. Everything we've done would've been impossible without you. Believe me."

There came a silent stare, and Jeremy still looked unconvinced.

"We had a close call today, but we made it," Aelita continued. "You tried something new, it didn't work, and that's okay. It's okay to fail. Everyone fails at something one time or another. I mean… you're human. You feeling bad because an idea didn't work, and… that happens to everyone."

"Not everyone puts lives at risk with their stupidity," Jeremy replied.

"You're not stupid! You're one of the smartest people I've ever met."

"You're smarter than me."

It took Aelita a moment to come up with a reply.

"I don't know about that," she said. "Here's what I know, Jeremy. I've mentioned the supercomputer, the superscan, the Skid, and saving me. You're feeling bad because you failed, and you know what, you're right. You have failed, and so has everybody. But look at what you have done, what you have succeeded at. It's a lot more than most people could ever imagine. So yes, you have failed. There have been multiple times you've failed. But the times you have succeeded – they've been spectacular, Jeremy. I really mean that."

Jeremy sighed.

"I'm sorry, Aelita," he responded. "I just don't think I'm good enough."

Aelita's expression changed from exasperation to silent sadness.

"Look, Jeremy… this has been hard on everyone. The fight against XANA, I mean. And it really has taken a large toll on everyone. Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich; they've been through a lot. Just as we've been through a lot. I mean, we're teenagers, for God's sakes. We've got enough hardships to deal with, without XANA and Lyoko. And we've found ways to cope with it, to deal with it. And… I… you've been there for me since the beginning. You've done more for me than I think I could ever repay you for. And honestly, Jeremy… I don't know if I can do this without you."

Aelita's grip tightened on Jeremy's shoulder. Aelita's eyes focused directly on Jeremy's, and her words started to melt the ice in his heart. It did fully do the trick, though.

"Aelita, I think you guys could manage without me –"

"Oh the hell with it!" she interrupted, grabbing Jeremy's head and kissing him like that time on Valentine's Day. The kiss was short, and once they broke contact, they stared at each other again, this time with surprised and stimulated faces.

"I just wanted you to know that we all care about you," Aelita said. "And I wanted you to know how I feel. I just wanted you to know… that you are loved, Jeremy."

The silent stare between two flustered teenagers continued. Aelita was beginning to worry she had gone too far. But that fear was allayed when Jeremy leaned in and kissed her back. Their hands moved up and down each other's bodies, and Jeremy felt the determination that had driven him for so long coming back to him.

The kiss finally stopped so that Aelita and Jeremy could catch their breath, and they looked each other again, for a while. Jeremy smiled.

"I don't think I'm ready to leave, just yet," he said. Aelita smiled back, and started kissing him again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or its characters. Code Lyoko and its characters are owned by Moonscoop.


End file.
